Liquid-fuel vaporizer



Jan. 1, 1924 y 1,479,381

J. GOOD LIQUID FUEL VAPORIZER Original Filed May l, 1918 ATTORNE "PATENT JOHN GooD, or'

GARDEN cI'rY, NEW YoRK, Assis-NOR 'ro Goon INvN'rIoNs co., or

NEW YORK, N. Y., n CORPORATION or NEW YORK.-

\ 'LIQUID-FUEL VAPORIZEB.

Applicationledvmay 1, 1918, Serial No. 231,808. `ILenewed June 8, 1923. i

To all whomv z't may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN GOOD, United States citizen, residing in Garden City, Long Island, New York, have invented the following described Improvements in' Liquid-Fuel Vaporizers.

The invention is an improved vaporizer for internal combustion engines and other apparatus using fuel liquids which require heat for proper combustion as for instance kerosene, alcohol, low grade gasolines, etc.

The object of the invention lis to produce of Such fuels and air a dry and relatively cool vaporous mixture, that is to say a mixture I containing substantially no liquid fuel particles and having a low temperature as it enters the intake ports of the engine. The

means hereinafter disclosed attain this ob-V ject in a hi h degree and are capable of operation wit perfect satisfaction and excellent 'general eiiciency on automobile and other engines which work under wide variations of load and speed. The invention consists essentiall in a special and critical relation which have ascertained to exist between an externally heatedvaporizing chamber and its entrance and exit passages and which operates in such manner that the liquid component of the charge mixture is deposited as a lm upon the heated internal vaporizer surface and subject`to complete vaporization by sthe frictional or scrubbing action of the air component ofthe mixture moving thereover, and gives the said results under all the varying conditions of engine operation, that is to say, for all velocities of mixture flow through the chamber as for example when the engine' is running slowly, under load or idling, as well as when it is running-at vnary four-cylinder automobile engine.

The engine charge mixture is produced by a carburetor 1 which may be of any of the usual types, containing a spray nozzle, and passes therefrom under the effect of the engine suction t0 a delivery spout 2 of about the same diameter as the outletfromfthe carfull speed or load.` This effect is accomplished without involving 'anyA buretor. This spout is mounted centrally in the upper wall of a vaporizing chamber -3' and directed towards the centre of the opposite end wall or ,floor 4 of said chamber,

and preferably semi-spherical as indicated,

being conveniently formed with a peripheral flange whereby it is clamped betweenthe upper and lower castings of the-structure. FromV the vchamber 3 the vaporized mixture is drawn threugh the exit oonnection'fto the engine intake ports 8 which in 'the present case are symmetrically` related to 'the ,chamberfone connection being on each side thereof.' A single connectionv however would be equally efcient, but it should in any casebe connected to a plurality of en-` gine ports, cause it is necessary that'the iow through the chamber shall be fairly uniform in velocity. The charge mixture from the carburetor consists of air with a proper amount of fuel liquid, more orless suspended in it in the form of spray particles or even in larger masses. Substantially all forms-of carburetorv produce thiskind of mingled fuel liquid and air. If the discharge end of the entrance spout 2 is mounted at a distance abovel the end or bottom wall 4 in line with it, somewhat in excess of the length of its own internal diameter and at about the `same or a reater distance from the surrounding side wall of the chamber, such a mixture of air as in a Ymulti-cylinder engine, be- ,a

arid liquid will discharge against the end i wall 4 in such manner `as to produce a de'- sired film-forming effect and substantially noneof the liquid particles will'remain suspended in the current to be carried thereby into the exit connection 7. If the heat externally applied to the wall 4 be of the appropriate temperaturesuch as is obtained stantially the whole air component of lthe charge, this mixture is the least likely to` condense 'on the internal cylinder'surface's and is for the same. reason correspondinglyl vtle 9 however is desirably loca-ted between the chamber and the carburetor so that the lvacuum eli'ect existing betweenv it and theengine cylinders may be available for whatever benefit it may confer.

It will be noted that the vaporizing chamber is substantially spherical and that the exit therefrom is as remote as possible. from the discharge end of the spout. This arrangement is desirable though-not strictly necessary. It may be stated in general that the necessary relation between the dimen sions of the spout and chamber is such that the annular cross ysectional area of the charriber at the end of the spout is'maiea's large as possible to still provide an e tended/film spread,l out to a substantially uniform thickness on the; heated end wall 4, (as distinguished from a pool of liquid thereon) and is not so small as to create such an upward velocity of air around the end of the spout aswill carry'off suspended particles intended to form `the film. These medium conditions are obtained in apparatus of about the proportionsindicated' in the, drawing but can be accurately obtained in any given case by substituting va glass bowl for the floor 4 and visually observing the film-formingaction of dierent dimensions of the spout and the effect of different separations of the same from the floor. It will be found that the .conditionl which produces the film without carrying over of suspended-liquid for one particular rate of mixture iow will also serve equally Well toruconsiderable variations on each side of that rate so that when the vaporizer is installed in an engine intake passage it will operate .uniformly for all normal speed variations of the engine. I am aware that the general structure of' a vaporizing chamberv containing a delivery spout opening near its heated bottom is oldin the art of engine vaporizers and my invention makesv use of such structure but differs therefrom in .principle by reason of the relation ofthe passages as above described and Whizhv maintains the film for all rates of mixture ilowsand without transfer of suspended'liquid particles Y from the spout to the engine ports.`

The heat appliedto the end Wall 4' is adjustable or subject to regulation by. an appropriat manipulation ofv the linked dempers 91 and 92 in the by-pass passages 10, it being apparent that when these pas-Y sages arel closed the entire engine exhaust will`be forced to pass in contact with the centerof the heated wall 4a By reason of the fact that the fuel liquid is vaporized as a film and without imparting heat to the air component of the mixture, it is possible to apply such a temperatureV to the wall 4 that the vapor from the liquid iilm will be converted/into' a fine fog as itimpregnates fthe cooler air giving asmokyappearance to the resulting entering mixture but not making it wet in the sense that it produces serious or objectionable wetness of the walls of the intake passages or the interior sur-iL I faces of the cylinders. Under some conditions of operation and maintaining the intake manifold relatively cool, I have succeeded in producing such substantially dry mixtures of kerosene and air at the remarkably low temperature of 160 F with correspondingly high thermal and general engine eiiiciency.

Claims: y J

l. A method of operating engines on low grade liquid fuels which consists in producing, in a carburetor connected to the engine intake ports, a mixture of air and liquid fuel in engine-operating proportions, the liquid fuelbeing suspended in or carried along by the air, delivering said mixture through a spout against an exhaustheated wall 'of a vaporizing chamber which forms partof thel suction intake, with an entering velocity adapted-tocause the sus- 'pended liquid therein to .separate from the gaseous flow and adhere to said heated wall, "simultaneously causingJ thegaseous part of said mixture to flow reversely around the exterior of the snout and along and over said heated wall with a reduced velocity adapted to spread and, maintain the so-deposited liquid in the form of a film thereon without permitting said liquid'to become resuspendedinn said gaseous part whereby the heat is directly applied to the liquid part and only indirectly and slightly transmitted to said gaseous part, and conducting the re-,

sulting gaseous mixture from the chamber and delivering yit in a relatively cool and dry state to the engine.

2.FA 'fmethod of operating multi-cylinder engines on low grade liquid fuels which consists in causing the engine to produce a flowing mixture of air and liquid fuel in i" jengine-operating proportions, the liquid fuel being suspended or carried along in or lby the air, delivering said mixture through a spout entrance against the curved, heated bottom' wall -of a bowl-shaped vaporizing` chamber which forms part of the suction intakepassage of the engine, with an enterin Velocity 'adapted to .cause the suspende liquid'therein to separate from the gaseous flow and impinge upon and adhere to said, 'heated wa1l, simultaneously causing vthe gaseous part of said mixtureto flow reversely in the space .around the'exterior of the spout iavasei and along and over said curved wall with a reduced velocity adapted to spread and maintain the so-deposited-liquid in the form of a film thereon without picking upunvaporized liquid, whereby the said film is directly heated and continuously vaporized in 'the presence of substantially Vthe whole of the air component of the engine mixture, without directly heating said air component, and conducting the resultin mixture in a relatively' cool and dry state rom said chamber to the engine without applying further heat thereto.

3. A method of operating multi-cylinder engines on low grade liquid fuels which consists in causing the engine to produce a mixture of airand liquid fuel in engine-operating proportions, the liquid fuel being suspended'and carried along in or by the air,

directing said mixture against an exhaustheated wallof a vaporizing chamber which forms part of the engine intake and thereby abruptly and simultaneously changing the directionr and velocity of said mixture .so as to collect the suspended liquid therein as an extended film on said heated wall and cause the gaseous part of the mixture to iow under its re uced velocity along and over said lm,

Athe iiow at said reduced velocity being incapable of picking up liquid from the film and adapted to absorb and remove the vapor thereof as generated, and conducting the resulting medium to the engine.

4. ln an apparatus of the kind described, an engine intake passage connected to a plurality of engine portsand provided with means for producing a mixture of liquid fuel and air in engine-operating proportions and including a vaporizing chamber'comprising a heated wall, an entrance for said mixture disposed in such relation to said wall as to deposit the suspended liquid on saidwall and spread' the same out thereon in the form of a thin liquid film, the capacity and dimensions of'said chamber being adapted to cause the gaseous part of the mixture to flow with reduced velocity away from the point of such deposit in contact with said lm without picking up liquidA therefrom, and an exit from said chamber adjacent theentrance thereto.

5. ln an apparatus of the kind described, the combinationgwith means for producing a mixture of liquid fuel and air 1n en eoperating roportions, of a bowl-shape va-v suiiiciently low velocity of the gaseous partof the mixture to avoid picking up of the lm liquid. Y

6. In an apparatus of the kind described, a bowl-shaped chamber adapted for connection in the intake of an. en `ne, means 4for heating the bottom of the c amber, an en-l trance spout extending into the chamber to a point spaced from said heated bottom by a istance substantially equal" to vthe diameter of the spout, said spout bein spaced from the sidewalls of the chamber ya like distance and an exit from the chamber above the spout..

7. ln apparatus of the kind described, an engine intake passageconnected to a rality of engine ports and provided with plumeans for producing a mixture of liquid fuel and air in engine operating proportions and including a throttle and a vaporizing chamber on the engine side of the throttle,

said chamber comprising a heated wall, an.

entrance for said mixture disposed in such relation to said wall as to deposit the sus pended liquid on said wall and spread the,

same out thereon in the .form of a thin liquid film, the capacit and dimensions of said chamber being a apted to causethe gaseous part of the mixture to flow with reduced velocity away from thepoint -o said deposit in contact with said film without picking up y liquid` therefrom, .andlan exit from` saidchamber adjacent the entrance thereto.

ln testimony whereof, l have signed this specification.

Jo eeen; 

